Congrats To India For Showing The Guts To Attend Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

It is really heartening to know that my beloved motherland India is going to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony In Oslo (Norway), where the imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo will be bestowed with the award in absentia.

The shameless Chinese government had started arm-twisting the various governments of the world, ultimately forcing many of them to decide to give the ceremony a miss.

However, the government of India has remained committed to the age old ethics and values that India stands for, and has decided to attend the award ceremony in full defiance of China’s veiled threats.

I wholeheartedly congratulate our government for this bold step.

Nobel For Liu Xiaobo – Europe Has Shown Where It Is Ahead Of The USA

China’s ruthlessly oppressive Communist government suffered a huge humiliation when its detained Human Rights activist Liu Xiaobo was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for 2010. While the award was a recognition for the gutsy fight put up by the respectable activist, it also came as a recognition for the cause that he is fighting for, i.e. a democratic life for the hapless Chinese people who find almost every aspect of their life being controlled by the ruling Communist Party.

Quite understandably the Chinese government had tried its best to ensure that the award ultimately did not come to Liu. It had even gone to the level of blackmailing Norway (it is a committee of Norwegian parliamentarians which selects the Nobel Peace Awardee) by implying that in case Liu is awarded the Prize, then it would adversely affect the trade relations between the two countries.

But by displaying a genuine Nordic fortitude, the Scandinavian Kingdom of Norway simply stuck to its guns, and ultimately ended up by handing over to Liu Xiaobo the award that he truly deserved. China’s nasty endeavour to advance its political cause through dirty blackmailing simply fell flat.

While apparently this incident reflects the strong sense of ethics and self-respect that underlines the national character of Norway, in reality it reflects the regional characteristic of the European continent as a whole (especially Western Europe).

No matter how many flaws they may have, a key quality of the West European nations is that they maintain a basic level of ethics and morality in their statecraft, in a stark contrast with the USA for which national interests come above all. If it were the USA in the place of Norway, and if it found that its commercial interests in China would be threatened if it gave the Nobel Peace Award to Liu, then it would have surely backed out. But as a Western European nation, Norway did not find its commercial interests to be more valuable than its national ethics, and went ahead with presenting the award to the person it thought to be the most suitable one for the same. It gave a damn to this fact that by presenting this ward to Liu it was getting in a conflict mode with an emerging economic as well as military superpower.

Europeans have many flaws that are not present in the USA. One glaring example of the same is the racist mindset, which is still so common among the Europeans while not being that common among the US people. But it is the presence of a basic ethics and righteousness in their politics that keeps the Western European nations ahead of the USA, at least in terms of political morality.

China’s Emergence As The World’s Top Aid Donor – Warning Bell For India?

A significant international development, at least for India, is the steady rise of China as the world’s top aid donor.

On one hand the USA – a prominent source of international aid – is suffering from a weakening economy. On the other hand another key international aid donor Japan has decided to restraint its supply of aids to the developing world. This combined development has resulted in an ample room for China to establish itself as a top international aid donor, with the Asian and the African regions in its focus area. In fact, it has already become a key aid donor to the developing nations of the African continent.

While it is otherwise a great news to find the emergence of yet another country as a prominent international aid donor, it is probably not a pleasant development for India given the fact that the country in question is China. And the reason is very simple. Its newly achieved status as a key aid donor will enhance China’s political status as well, and it is taken for granted that it will use its enhanced political status and weight to serve its political objectives. This will in fact be quite an easy game for China, with the countries dependent on Chinese aids having a moral and/or obligatory compulsion to toe China’s political stands on international issues.

And this is likely to be a matter of concern for India, as China’s political objectives are not always at par with India’s interests. On the occasion of an Indo-China face-off, China may try to gather the support of those countries dependent on its aid, thereby exerting a strong international pressure on India. And the heat sometimes may be too much for India.

So what can be done? Well, there seems to be only one way out. India should try to convince the USA that a significant expansion in China’s sphere of international influence is not likely to be a very healthy development for “Uncle Sam”, as well. And therefore the USA must try to ensure that China does not manage to achieve the status of a top international aid donor, a status that the Chinese government is trying to achieve very hard.

But how will the USA do it? Well, let’s leave it to the US government itself. The US government is well known for handling such developments in the past, and is very much likely to chalk out a suitable plan to address this issue.

Dalai Lama’s Arunachal Visit – A Tight Slap For Audacious China

The audacious Chinese leadership got a tight slap with His Holiness Dalai Lama’s smooth visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the unarguably Indian state that China considers to be a part of its own.

China found its strong pressure on India to be completely futile with the latter strongly defying the pressure and allowing the revered Tibetan leader to visit this majestic region in north-eastarn India.

To top it, standing on the soil of Arunachal Pradesh Dalai Lama described the state to be an integral part of India, and also slammed China for its “hard line”.

Hope China has understood that India is not the pushover that it had thought it to be.

The 1962 war is a distant past, China. Stop being obsessed with that success, and try to move on. Today’s India a strong country, a country simply not ready to tolerate your high-handedness. Got it dude?

This Is Too Much, China

The audacity of the Chinese government is simply crossing all limits. India is already disturbed with China’s constant claim (a ridiculous one) that the picturesque north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to her. There is also a constant pressure from China to disown His Holiness Dalai Lama, the highly revered Tibetan leader whom India was pleased to grant political refuge after he fled from Tibet to escape Chinese oppression.

Now one of the latest nuisances caused by China is to show Kashmir as an independent country outside India. The journalists who are visiting Tibet are being given media handouts by the Chinese government, which mention Tibet as a piece of land bordered by India, Nepal, Myanmar and Kashmir. The clear implication – Kashmir is a land independent of Indian jurisdiction.

I will strongly suggest the Indian government to publish maps showing Tibet as an independent country outside China. (In fact, this is actually the truth, as forced colonization of a sovereign country by another one does not make the former a part of the latter). Let also our government recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country, something that India refrained from doing to retain cordial diplomatic relations with China.

An aggressive stance is the only way to deal with the “rogue leadership” of China, a leadership that traces its origin to a rogue statesman – Mao Zedong.

Dalai Lama's Proposed Visit To Taiwan - Who Is China To Oppose It?

The Chinese government is upset with His Holiness Dalai Lama's proposed visit to Taiwan. The spokesperson of the Chinese government has openly conveyed his government's displeasure to the global media, saying that his government "resolutely opposes" Dalai Lama's proposed visit to Taiwan (the country which China considers to be a part of its own).

Now, what locus standi does the Chinese government have in opposing Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan? Taiwan is a sovereign country (no matter what China thinks about it), and it has full right to invite any person on its soil. And Dalai Lama is also by no means answerable to the Chinese government for his actions. Then from where does China get the right to express displeasure over the issue, in the first place?

The Tibet Turmoil – The World Must Recognize The Fight For Freedom

For the last few days the global media has been closely following, quite understandably, the turmoil in Tibet. There has always been a strong protest from the Tibetans against the domination of their country by China. The Chinese government has been very ruthless in suppressing this Tibetan protest, one result of which was His Holiness Dalai Lama’s exile in India. There is strong pressure from China on India to denounce Dalai Lama, a pressure that India has so far handled with diplomatic aplomb. China has always accused Dalai Lama for instigating Tibetans against the Chinese government (as if it is a crime to motivate one’s countrymen to fight against foreign domination), and has accused him for instigating the present riot that has taken place in Tibet. In fact, the way the Chinese government has accused the widely respected religious leader has simply crossed all limits of decency. The Chinese government has used languages which even a man on the street will think twice before using in a public place. Their audacity is such, that they called Dalai Lama “A Wolf In Monk’s Robes”. Who has given the Chinese government the right to hurt the emotions of thousands of people who perceive Dalai Lama as the representative of God? Would they be able to use such a language about a religious leader from the Islamic community?

What I feel is that the world should take serious note of what is happening in Tibet. Can any person, having minimum rationality, deny this fact that China is doing something really obnoxious by forcefully occupying Tibet? Isn’t it a clear case of imperialism? On what basis have they got the right to occupy Tibet?

The peace loving people across the world should immediately start a strong campaign against the illegal Chinese domination of Tibet, thereby creating a strong pressure on Beijing to withdraw itself from that beautiful land.

One thing has always surprised me. I have always found that the so-called intellectuals are very fast in criticizing the capitalist countries (like the USA) when the latter do something that is apparently unethical. These intellectuals are so smart in criticizing the USA for its war against Iraq (something which I also do not support). But these intellectuals never criticize Fidel Castro of Cuba for ruling (or shall we say oppressing) his countrymen with an iron hand. Similarly, I never find these intellectuals to criticize the Chinese government who has been playing with the feelings, emotions and self-respect sense of the Tibetans all over the world.

It is high time we stopped all sorts of hypocrisy, and criticize all sorts of unethical activities, irrespective of the country responsible for that. If we do not extend our support to our Tibetan brothers and sisters who are fighting for the liberty of their beloved motherland, then we have no right to call ourselves a civilized society.